Method of treating sewage



J. P. BAL'L.

METHOD OF TREATING SEWAGE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 22. IQIB.

Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

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JOHN P. BALL, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

HE'IHOD OI TREATING SEWAGE.-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known" that I, J OHN P. BALL, a c1t1 zen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of (look and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Treating Sewage, of which the following 1s a descriptlon, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of my specification.

My invention relates to a method for treating sewage, trade waste and the llke, through the utilization of means or mechanisms whereby a current of air is employed for the purpose of inducing separation of the liquid from the solids.

As is considered by sanitary engineers, a most important step in the purification of sewage consists in the collection and dlsposition of the sewage sludge, which heretofore has usually been collected by means of settling chambers or septic tanks.

I have discovered that the passage of a current of air through the agitated sewage will produce a more or less anhydrous sludge in an exhaust air chamber.

My invention contemplates mechanisms or devices of such character as to enable the carrying out of the method; such machanism, in its preferred form, ut1 l1zin a centrifugal element for comminutm t e sewage or sludge in conjunction W1t a superposed annular discharge passage for exhausting from said member; a plurality of receiving chambers for the particle laden current; together with means for controlling the current as well as means for operating the mechanism. My invent on 1s especially applicable to the purificatlon of sewage in lavatories, latrines in army encampments where the disposal of Waste is a difficult task.

As exemplifications of meansfor carry ing out my invention I will refer to the drawings wherein Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of the preferred form of such means.

Flg. 2 is a similar sectional view of a modified form. 4

Referring to Fig. 1, A indicates in general a revolving comminuting element driven by the mec nism referred to in general by the reference character B. G indicates a blower of any suitable type whereby air is forced into acasing D arranged in the sewage sump or basin G; the casing D being Specification of Letters Patent.

"Application filed October 29, 1918. Serial N0. 259,292.

. of suitable construction and Patented Jan. 4, 1921 preferably supported and slightly elevated from the bottom of the sump or basin, as shown in the figure. The casing D is preferabl provlded with a discharge conduit F pre erably leadin from the top of the casing and out --throug the top or cover of the sump or basin. The discharge conduit F is shown communicating at a suitable point with a sludge or particle collecting chamber E, the opposite end whereof is provided with what may be termed a continuation of the discharge conduit F whereby the gases are conveyed to the atmosphere at a suitable elevation. The sump orbasin and'the casing construction, as well as the blower, may be of any suitable construction and arrangement capable of vaporizing the moisture from the sludge or sewage;-the construction, however, contemplating means for creating the necessary current and for the collection and discharge of the sludge in the form of manurial product.

The agitator or comminuting member A, in the specific form illustrated in Fig. 1, comprises a cylindrical body, indicated at a, with an open to% and a perforated bottom, indicated at 0. he cylinder is mounted in a suitable manner on the centrally located revoluble shaft d which is disposed therethrough and protrudes from the cylinder so as to provide a suitable mounting on the bottom of the casing D, while the upper end of the shaft is disposed through the hood or drum formation I of the casing and also extends through the top of the sump or basin. The cylinder a is provided with inwardly and downwardly disposed flan es or blades e whereby the sewage or slu go may be thoroughly agitated upon the rotation of the drum or cylinder w; the sewage The cylinder a is driven through the mev dium of the shaft d, the upper end whereof is provided with suitable gearin adapted to mesh with the gearin on the rive shaft It mounted ina suitab e frame 9 on the Y cover of the basin or sump; the drive shaft It being shown provided with a fast and loose pulley at z in order that the cylinder may be set in o eration when the belt or other driving me ium is in contact with the fast pulley.

The blower C is adapted to force a current i of air through the conduit H into the upper end of the casing D,-or rather into thechamberformed in the drum I at the ,upper end of the casin the'conduit H'being arranged so as to discharge the current of Mr centrally or substantially so above the open end of the cylinder and therefore 'above the agitated sewage.

The upper end of the casing D is provided with the inwardly and downwardly dis posed circumferential flange, as at m, ada ted to overlap the upper end of the cylinder (1 so as to provi e a concentration of the liquid or sewage and cause the blast or current of air to be effective across the open top of the cylinder and therefore to be forced into intimate relation with the agitated sewage.

The conduit F communicates with the drum portion I of the casing D (being referably made integral with the drum as mdicated at p) preferably at its uppermost point and at the opposite side from that where the air conduit H enters the casing, so that the air current will be induced to fiow u ward through conduit F and be conveyed mto a collecting chamber E which is preferabF in the nature of a cylinder; the conduit 4 being shown commumcatmg wlth the chamber or cylinder E at one end thereof and preferably near the top; the conduit terminating in a restricted orifice preferably funnel-shape, as indicated at q, The chamber or cylinder E is provided with internal chambers formed by the baffles, n which are arranged in staggering relation; with the walls of the internal chambers preferably made sloping toward thelower central point of the chamber or cyhnder E, as shown in the drawing. The current of air, which will entrain small particles of the sewage, will be forced or caused to circulate about the baflles and the inner walls before the current can find egress through the outlet conduit F which communicates with the opposite upper end of the chamber or cylinder E; the discharge outlet or tube F being adapted to exhaust the gases and act as a vent to carry the noxious gases to an rent passing through the cylinder E. The central'bottom point of the chamber E is prov ded with a suitable outlet )rovided w th a closure'which enables the so ids to be wlthdrawn from time to time and permit the use of the solids as heretofore mentioned.

In the construction shown in Fi 1, I show the shaft d provided with a blade or paddle at J formed so as to assist in direct- 1ng the alr current. toward conduit 1 and thus assist in the operation of drying the sewage andcausing the air current with the suitable screen or cage so as to ,prevent the orifice from being clogged by large sized part1cles 'and thus become obstructed. This conduit terminates at its upper end, above the cover of the basin or sump in a restricted or funnel shaped orifice which terminates at a point in proximit to the restricted orificeof the air conduit which communicates with the blower .C; that is to say the orifice of the air conduit H is disposed substantially at right angles to the upper orifice of conduit A in order that the forced air passing across the restricted orifice of conduit A will induce a suction action whereby the moisture will bedrawn upward from the basin or sump through conduit A and becaused to flow into the collecting chamber E, which latterv is provided with a series of fins or baffles which are adapted to collect the entrained particles of sewage before the air current reaches the opposite end of the collecting chamber E which is provided with the outlet conduit F leading to the atmos phere. In this construction shown in Fig. 2 the comminuting means is omitted.

What I claim is 1. The herein described method, which consists in subjecting a collected mass of sludge laden sewage to a forced current of air so as to withdraw the noxious gases with entrained particles of sewage from said mass, and passing said sewage laden gases through a collecting medium.

2. The herein described method, which consists in subjecting a collected mass of sludge laden sewage to the action of a comminuting element forcing a current of air into said comminuting element in such manner as to cause the noxious gases to be forced through a discharging member with entrained particles of sewage, and providing means communicatin with said conduit whereby the entraine particles in said gas laden current will be collected and the noxious gases discharged into the atmosphere.

3. The herein described method, which consists in subjecting a' collected mass of sludge laden sewage to a forced current of air whereby the noxious gases with entrained particles of sewage are withdrawnfrom said collected mass, and providing means in the path of said gas laden current whereby the entrained particles will be precipitated and the gases conveyed to the atmosphere.

4. The herein described method, which mosphere.

JOHN P. BALL.

Witnesses: v

GLovIs C. Vmnnnm, ELIZA ST. MARTIN. 

